Proprietors in Delta kick over substandard private schools

The Delta State branch of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) has threatened a showdown with the state government.

This followed the approval granted by it to over 2,000 private schools, which the association said were substandard.

A joint statement in Asaba by the association’s chairman in Oshimili South Local Council, Austin Onodarho and his counterpart in Oshimili North, Mr. Carl Ofonye, disclosed this yesterday.

According to them, some corrupt education officials infiltrated the system to facilitate the approval of the illegal schools in the areas.

They alleged that the situation has made the standard of education to drop drastically in the two councils.

They threatened that no private school in the two councils would pay for licence renewal next year, unless the state government closes down the illegal schools.

The association disclosed that a copy of the letter had been sent to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, the Commissioner for Education, Mr. Chiedu Ebie, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Monday Igbuya and the chairman of Education Committee in the state after a joint emergency meeting.

“The Delta State government should take a cue from Akwa Ibom State, which recently closed down over 700 schools and threatened to prosecute their owners, if they re-open them.

“When all entreaties fail, we shall not hesitate to convene another emergency meeting to mobilise members to protest against the abnormalities in the education sector.”

They warned against allowing proprietors to convert mushroom churches, dilapidated sachet water companies, hotels and plazas, to schools without due process.

The association also urged the government to strengthen the inspectorate department of the ministry of basic and secondary education for effective monitoring, while condemning the mass failure in the last primary six and other examinations.